Ferozepur (Punjab) (PTI): The Bharti Kisan Union (Krantikari) Thursday slammed the Punjab government for the arrest warrants issued against 25 farmers and insertion of an attempt to murder charge in the FIR in connection with the 2022 prime minister security breach matter in the state.

Leaders of the farmers' body said they came to know about the insertion of Section 307 (attempt to murder charge) of the Indian Penal Code in the FIR after the bail plea of one of the protesting farmers was rejected by a court in Ferozepur.

On January 5, 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's convoy was stranded on a flyover due to a blockade by protesters in Punajb's Ferozepur after which he returned from the state without attending any event, including a rally.

Later, the Supreme Court appointed a five-member committee, headed by former apex court judge Indu Malhotra to probe the security breach incident.

Police had then lodged an FIR in the matter. Initially, police had registered an FIR against 150 unidentified people at Kulgarhi police station under Section 283 (danger or obstruction in public way) of the IPC.

Farmers said following a probe by a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT), additional charges -- Sections 307 (attempt to murder), 353 (assault on a public servant), 186 (obstruction of duty), 149 (unlawful assembly), 341 (wrongful restraint) and Section 8-B of the National Highway Act -- were inserted in the FIR by the police.

Police have pressed these charges against 25 farmers by name.

Bharti Kisan Union (Krantikari) president Baldev Singh Zira said the bail plea of one of the protesters Kanwaljit Singh was rejected by Sessions Court on Tuesday.

"The state government is apparently working under the pressure of the Union government. It has been three years since the incident. The farmers were actually going towards the district administrative complex to hold a protest, however, the police blocked their way near the bridge," he claimed.

Zira claimed the farmers had no idea that the prime minister was coming via the same road.

"Since the farmers were not allowed to move forward, they squatted there, and started a protest near the bridge", Zira said, adding the prime minister's cavalcade was at a distance of around one km from the protesting site during which no protesters went there."

"The police had earlier booked unidentified people under section 283 of IPC, but later due to some kind of pressure, they added serious sections like 307 of IPC in that FIR," he said.

The Bharti Kisan Union (Krantikari) president said, "Police booked 25 people, including me, by name. But no information was shared with us, neither did we receive any notices or summons."

"Now, the court is issuing non-bailable warrants for non-appearance. This is just a conspiracy to demoralise and weaken 'Kissan Morcha 2.0'. But we will not let that happen," Zira added.

Farmer leader Surjit Singh Phul, who is part of the ongoing protest at Shambhu and Khanauri border points, strongly condemned the Punjab Police for pressing the attempt to murder charge against farmers.

"Arrest warrants have been issued against 25 farmers. The Punjab government is working under pressure from the Centre," he said.

On January 5, 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was scheduled to lay the foundation stones of development projects worth over Rs 42,750 crore, including the Delhi-Amritsar-Katra expressway and a PGIMER satellite centre.

When his convoy reached close to the Piareana village on the Ferozepur-Moga road, around 30 km from the National Martyrs Memorial in Hussainiwala, some protestors blocked the road following which the cavalcade was halted for almost 15-20 minutes.

The PM had returned without dedicating developmental projects and addressing a rally.

The incident had triggered a major political row with the BJP alleging that the then ruling Congress in Punjab "tried to physically harm" the prime minister, while other parties too attacked the state government over the law and order issue.

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New Delhi (PTI): Former India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh on Friday asserted that the BCCI's 10-point policy for its centrally-contracted players has actually been in place since his playing days and wanted to know when was it "altered" and by whom.

Terming the guidelines "fresh documentation", Harbhajan said the move diverts attention from the team's forgettable on-field performance against New Zealand and Australia recently.

Days after the 1-3 defeat in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, the BCCI has come up with a 10-point diktat to promote "discipline and unity", making domestic cricket mandatory, imposing restriction on the presence of families and personal staff on tours and banning individual commercial endorsements during series.

To Harbhajan, all these measures seemed like old wine in a new bottle.

"Let me first put this on record. When I was reading the travel policy document reported by the media, I hardly found anything new from the last time I represented India as a centrally-contracted cricketer," Harbhajan told PTI during an interaction.

"At least nine out of 10 points, including duration of family visits, staying in same hotel, practice timings, all are same. My question is if these rules were in place during my time, who all have altered it and when? That should be probed," Harbhajan, who has 700 plus international wickets across formats, said.

The same assertion was also made by one of Harbhajan's former India teammate Irfan Pathan.

For Harbhajan, what is certainly not funny is the timing of issuing these guidelines as he feels the discussion should have been strictly on cricket only.

"Hum log mudde se bhatak rahein hain (We are deviating from the main issue). We didn't lose 1-3 because wives and partners were there for two months. We didn't lose because someone travelled separately.

"We lost because we have played very poor cricket at times. We didn't bat well even at home. We have players who are horribly out of form. What are the course corrections being made? Or is it just these off-the-field things being discussed?" he questioned.

One of India's finest spinners, Harbhajan then recollected his playing days.

"I think some of the points needed to be revisited because they were being flouted. Like in our times, I never saw a Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid or Anil Kumble leave for Mumbai, Kolkata or Bengaluru just because the match has ended in three days and next game is a week away.

"They all stayed and travelled to next destination. Only change I see (in the new rulebook) is 150 kg suitcase allowance. Back in the day, we used to have lesser.

"Why would you need to tell players that you have to travel by team bus? That's a given. If someone was breaking the rule, that person needs to be probed."

While he completely supported barring the personal entourage of any particular player or a coach, Harbhajan felt that the BCCI can have a couple of quality chefs travelling with the team.

"BCCI has deep pockets. Why do you need to carry personal chefs. In soccer World Cup, big teams carry their own chef, who takes care of dietary requirements of players. Have a couple of team chefs. It is not a big deal," he added.

According to Harbhajan, the only thing new in the policy document is players requiring prior approval of head coach Gautam Gambhir on certain matters, and the former spinner didn't agree with that.

"In our times, it used to be written that prior approval of BCCI was needed on certain matters. So, for approvals, drop a mail to BCCI and ask for permission. Why does the head coach need to get into all this? That is not his job.

"His job is on the field and in the technical aspects where we are lacking. Administrative part should be left with competent people in the BCCI," he said.